NBC “allows” bloggers to use debate footage

NBC joined rivals CNN and ABC this week in making footage of presidential …

On Wednesday, NBC announced that it will join rivals CNN and ABC in making video footage of presidential debates aired on its networks freely available for non-commercial use. Under licensing terms posted on the MSNBC website, the footage is available for redistribution free of charge, provided that credit is given to MSNBC. The license also prohibits footage of NBC journalists from appearing in campaign commercials.

The announcement represents a reversal of NBC's previous policy and a victory for the coalition of Internet activists that has been pushing to make the debates more widely available for several months. In April, Stanford law professor and Creative Commons CEO Larry Lessig penned an open letter that was co-signed by Internet celebrities across the political spectrum, including Craiglist founder Craig Newmark, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, and liberal blogger Arianna Huffington.

"These networks are not only embracing new technology, but new communities. Their willingness to loosen the reins a bit will go a long way towards improving our politics as more and more people get involved," said Mike Krempasky, co-founder of the conservative blog RedState.com, on Wednesday. Adam Green of the liberal MoveOn.org agreed. "It's good for our democracy that TV networks are removing themselves as the sole deciders of which debate moments can have a life online," he noted.

But skeptics might question whether the networks had the right to restrict use of the footage in the first place. Under the principle of fair use, copyright law permits the reproduction of excerpts of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, and news reporting. Although determining the precise scope of fair use is never an exact science, showing a clip from a presidential debate is about as clear-cut an example as we can imagine. In most cases, bloggers will be legally entitled to use debate excerpts without paying any attention to NBC's license restrictions.

Nevertheless, NBC's announcement (and ABC's and CNN's announcements before them) will give rank-and-file bloggers peace of mind. That's important because in the past, the networks have sometimes been trigger-happy in sending takedown notices. Even if the law was on their side, some bloggers might have been reluctant to take the risk of prolonged copyright litigation.

There is still at least one holdout. According to USA Today, Fox News says it will continue treating the debates it airs the same as any other programming on the network and will not make the footage available for wider use.

Timothy B. Lee / Timothy covers tech policy for Ars, with a particular focus on patent and copyright law, privacy, free speech, and open government. His writing has appeared in Slate, Reason, Wired, and the New York Times.